I wasn't around 100 years ago, although it does feel like it sometimes. But, I was born in 1950, so I will tell what I saw from that time period.
I was lucky to grow up in family that hunted, and carried guns on a daily basis. There was no deer season here until the early 1960's here, so deer rifles were practically non existent. You did see a few 30-30's and some old military rifles around, but that was pretty much it. My dad had a Marlin in 25-20 at one time, and then a Marlin in 32 Special, which he eventually traded for a Remington 760 in 30-06 as we began to get some deer here.
Varmint hunting meant groundhogs, crows, and any other critter that was considered bothersome around the farm. I knew only a very few people who had a centerfire rifle that was especially dedicated for groundhog hunting, and they were usually a 222, although I knew one fellow with a custom 22-250. Everybody else, including me, used a 22 LR. Most farm people had a 22 rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun, and that was usually it. Unless they were a dedicated hunter, they didn't need anything else.
There were no turkeys, no coyotes, very few deer, and our hunting opportunities were limited to small game such as squirrel, rabbits, and quail. Therefore, we didn't need a variety of guns. I put a Weaver C4 on my Remington 511 22 rifle, and it became my "varmint" rifle. I killed a pile of groundhogs with that rifle over the years, and I still have it today.
